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Monday, 4 March 2013

Carlo BERGAMINI - an unassuming grave for a sculptor

Often as I'm walking around a cemetery, I come across graves that I think may hold a story solely due to the persons name... Carlo's grave was one of those and what a story I found!Carlo's headstone belied what an amazing talent he had in his trade as a stonemason and the designer of 5 major South African War memorials in New Zealand. Those at Dunedin, Waimate, Palmerston, Riverton and Oamaru.

He had resided in New Zealand 47years at the time of his death and he lived at 50 Buckleys Road, Linwood. This in itself was a fascinating thing to find out, because for many years being a citizen in Avondale, Christchurch, I often passed this run down house situated beside Eastgate Mall on the way to my grandparents house and wondered what its history may have been!

Carlo Bergamini[10]

"Carlo Giuseppe Bergamini was born at Carrara,
Italy, on 19 January 1868 [differs to
headstone information – Sarndra], the son of Oreste Bergamini and his wife,
Marie de Raimondo Castelpoggi. Carrara was the centre of the Italian marble
industry and the family were stonemasons and sculptors. As a young man Carlo
arrived in Australia and New Zealand as a travelling representative of the
family firm, hoping to win orders for cemetery headstones and marble monuments.

In Dunedin Bergamini met Elizabeth Jane Reid,
who had migrated with her parents from County Antrim, Ireland [note conflicting information in Bromley
Cemetery database states she was born in Christchurch – Sarndra]. Despite
his Roman Catholic faith, they were married in a Presbyterian ceremony on 18
May 1889. Family legend says that on the honeymoon in Melbourne Carlo spent the
money set aside for his return to Italy. The couple returned to Dunedin where
Carlo set up as a marble sculptor and monumental mason, first on his own
account, then in 1898 in a partnership with James Crawford, and finally some
two years later in association with Elizabeth's father, Hugh Reid. Marble
angels and crosses were imported in sculpted form from Bergamini's family in
Carrara, and Carlo would finish, inscribe and then erect them in the cemeteries
of Otago.

The end of the South African War in 1902
provided new opportunities for Bergamini. Some communities, wishing to
commemorate both pride in their sons' service to the empire and sorrow for
those who had fallen, decided to erect war memorials. Often they called for
designs on a competitive basis. Carlo Bergamini proved to be an adept designer,
and five communities awarded him winning prizes. The firm of Bergamini and Reid was then
commissioned to erect the memorials.

Palmerston...

Waimate [32]...

Oamaru [33]

Riverton [8]...

and Dunedin [9] ...

It also won a tender to put up a marble
memorial tablet at Otago Boys' High School.

Otago Boy's High school tablets [11]

Bergamini won the commissions largely because
his designs summed up the sentiments of the period. The iconography expressed
that mixture of nationalist and imperialist enthusiasms which New Zealanders
associated with the country's participation in the war. At both Palmerston and
Waimate his designs featured a youthful figure of Zealandia – the daughter of
Britannia – with one hand raised in triumph and the other carrying a wreath of
flowers. At Oamaru the sculpture was a realistic portrayal of a local veteran;
at Dunedin it was a more generalised heroic New Zealand trooper protecting an
injured mate. The details also showed how sensitively Bergamini had read the
prevailing mood. On three of the memorials the Union Jack and the New Zealand
Ensign were intertwined in marble beneath the protection of the imperial crown,
while at Palmerston and Oamaru the British lion made a symbolic appearance.
Such details helped make these memorials undoubtedly the most distinguished in
the country.

Contemporaries praised Bergamini for the
appropriateness of his designs, while the firm of Bergamini and Reid received
plaudits for their relative economy and the efficiency with which they put up
the memorials once the carved figures had arrived from Italy. When the
Invercargill memorial, for which Bergamini was not responsible, was being
hoisted into place it fell and broke into three pieces. Immediately Bergamini
was called in and his repair led contemporaries to wonder at his 'artistic
manipulation of the Carrara marble'.

Despite his ability to express British
imperial sentiments in stone, Bergamini remained essentially Italian. He drank
red wine, made his own ravioli, and eventually took his daughter back to Italy
for several years. By then his life had changed, both personally and
professionally. The business partnership with Hugh Reid dissolved in 1909, and
Bergamini moved to Christchurch. There his marriage with Elizabeth also
suffered and they separated during the First World War. By that time, too,
Carlo had given up work as a stonemason and become a commercial traveller,
eventually working for the International Harvester Company. In the years
following the First World War, when New Zealand again erected memorials,
Bergamini was no longer prepared to offer his services. Occasionally, however,
in prickly letters to the Christchurch newspapers, he was prepared to offer
advice on others' memorial designs. He signed his address, 'Carrara Academy'.

Carlo Bergamini, a distinguished looking man
of fair hair and blue eyes, died at Christchurch on 16 July 1934, survived by
his wife, three sons and a daughter; one son had predeceased him. Fitting
monuments to his life's work are the beautifully designed South African War
memorials found in Otago and Southland."[5 Jock Phillips. 'Bergamini, Carlo Giuseppe -
Bergamini, Carlo Giuseppe', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te
Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand]

His private life wasn't without some magisterial issues.

Otago
Daily Times , Issue 12822, 17 November 1903

CIVIL SITTINGS.
(Before his Honor Mr Justice Williams.)

WISE V.
BERGAMINI. An action for £100 damages. Mr Sim appeared for the plaintiff, Henry
James Wise (labourer), and Mr Gallaway for the defendant, Carlo Bergamini
(sculptor). This case was heard before a jury of four, the jurors being
Alexander G. M'Kellop (foreman), Robert Marshall, George M. Aikman, and Frederick
E. Campbell—The plaintiff, in his statement, said that on October 17, 1903,
defendant assaulted him with a hammer, and broke ,his arm, wherefore he claimed
£100 damages.—The defendant denied (1) assaulting plaintiff as alleged or
otherwise; (2) that he broke plaintiff's arm or otherwise injured him, and
further stated that plaintiff came to his business' premises and behaved in a violent
and disorderly manner. He was apparently under the influence of drink, and was
ejected. Plaintiff returned, and struck defendant without provocation, and in
attempting to defend himself defendant accidentally struck him with a hammerthat he had in his hand.

Mr Sim,
in opening the case, said that plaintiff formerly worked for Bergamini, and had
a claim against him for wages. On the date stated Wise called at the yard and
asked defendant to settle up. They had some words, and Wise struck him. Bergamini
was working at a stone at the time, and had a hammer in his hand. When the
plaintiff struck him defendant struck him back with the hammer. Plaintiff took
the blow on his arm, and it broke with the force of the blow. He attempted to
strike Bergamini again, and the latter struck him four or five blows
altogether. Of course it was wrong of him to strike Bergamini, and if defendant
had defended himself by using his fists instead of the hammer the case would
never have come on. But, as his Honor would doubtless tell the jury, the right
of self-defence must not be abused. A man had to defend himself against attack, and in
repelling an attack to rise force, but he had no right to use a deadly weapon.
Defendant stated that the blow was accidental, but Dr Macpherson would depose
there were several wounds on plaintiff's head, and it was too much to ask the
jury to believe that they were all accidental. Dr Macpherson, in his evidence,
said that Wise came to him with a fracture of the ulna (one of the bones of the
forearm) and several scalp wounds. There were also one or two abrasions about
the face.

The
Plaintiff, in evidence, said that Bergamini owed him £3 for wages, and he went
down to see him about it. Bergamini was working at a stone, and plaintiff asked
him if he was going to square up. Defendant said no, and plaintiff said he
would put it in the hands of a solicitor. Defendant said he did not care, and
would not pay. Witness struck him, and Bergamini struck back. Witness raised
his arm to protect himself, and received a blow from the hammer on the arm.
Witness closed with him, and in the struggle witness received a blow on the
back of the head. Reid (defendant's partner) separated them, and took witness
to the gate. He told Reid his arm was broken. Witness was going back to get his
tools, and saw Bergamini again. Witness struck him on the head, and Bergamini
struck him back several times. He struck witness on the head, and said "I
kill you;' I kill you." Witness became unconscious then, and the next he
remembered was being in the yard with Reid, who was bathing his head at the
tap. Witness called Bergamini an Italian devil as he went out. He took a cab up to Dr
Macpherson's, where he was attended to. Witness had two glasses that morning.Cross-examined: Bergamini was lettering a stone when witness went in. He did
not remember chasing Bergamini's boy around the yard or falling against a
granite tombstone. There were two assaults with the hammer. Witness would swear
that he had made no application to his lodge for payment. The doctor advised
him not to put in a claim.

Mr Gallaway submitted that the story told by the
plaintiff was improbable. It was perfectly obvious that there must be a great
deal more in the matter than had already come out. That Wise was struck on the
head with the hammer was not denied; that he was wilfully struck by Bergamini
was an entirely different thing. Bergamini was not on the premises when Wise
first came. One of Bergamini's sons, seeing Wise the worse for drink, very improperly
began, to "chaff" him, and Wise chased him round the yard. Wise did
not remember this, nor did he remember his fall against, the granite. Bergamini
was away at the bank, and when he came in he spoke to Wise, and then went to his work. Wise
came back after Reid got him out, and if his arm was broken then it was
perfectly obvious that Bergamini could not have done it, When Wise came back he
struck at Bergamini and if Bergamini
struck back it must have been in self- defence. It could not have been
intentional) for the hammer was heavy enough to kill him if Bergamini had
struck him intentionally.

Carlo Bergamini, in his evidence stated that when he
saw that Wise was drunk he told him to come back on Monday. Wise struck him,
and ho hit back with his open hand. Wise fell on the ground with his left arm
under him. Witness did not then have the hammer in his hand. When Wise came
back the second time witness was working at a stone, and did not hear his
approach. The first thing he knew was a blow on the temple. Witness put his
hands out, and defendant's head came in contact with the hammer. There was a
scuffle, and witness heard someone Look out for the stone!" This was a
granite stone, weighing 10cwt that was falling down. Reid put out his hand and
stopped it. Witness was excited, and did
not know what he was doing. Cross-examined: Witness did not strike Wise with
the hammer; he knocked his head against it. Witness never knocked a man down
with a mallet at Palmer's, where he formerly worked. Witness was not excited,
but was quite calm during tho Wise incident.

"Alfred
Edward Abley, employed by Bergaminiand
Reid, said he saw "Wise fall down. A piece of Oamaru stone fell on his
arm. He then went into the back yard, and came out again. Witness then detailed
the fight between Wise and Bergamini, and said that Reid separated them, and
took "Wise out. The latter came back, and there was another scuffle. Bergamini
appeared to be trying to keep Wise off. George Robertson, and William Reid also
gave evidence. At this stage the court adjourned for lunch. On resuming,' Mr Gallawayaddressed the jury, reviewing the evidence
and dealing with the law. Mr Sim having replied,

His
Honor put it to the jury that the question for them to determine was whether
the defendant used more force than was reasonably necessary to defend himself
from the attack of the plaintiff and to prevent a repetition of the assaults. A
person attacked was justified in using sufficient force to prevent a repetition
of the assault. If the defendant only used sufficient force then he was
entitled to a verdict; if the defendant used more force than was reasonably
necessary, the plaintiff was entitled to recover. The Jury
retired at 3.15 p.m. and returned to the court at 3.40 p.m. -with a verdict for
the plaintiff for £5. Costs were allowed on the Magistrate's Court scale when
£5 is recovered.

Also, according to an article in te Tuapeka Times, on 18 July
1908, he was sued for refund of deposit on a tombstone
undertaken 2 years previously[12]

Carlo's wife Elizabeth was not without her own magisterial troubles later in her life. Elizabeth fostered children for many years and in 1929 her temper got the better of her and blemished her recordthen 17 years satisfactory fostering by "brutally bashing" a 13 year old girl. The child was bought to the attention of Effie CARDALE Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, when the child was sent to school with her body in a bruised condition.
She was examined by two doctors, who found four large bruises on her hips, and both medicos expressed the opinion that no misdemeanor on the part of the child could warrant such a beating". Consequently, the child was placed in a receiving home and her foster mother, Mrs. Bergamini, was charged with ill-treating her. Sergeant Hodgson gave evidence to the effect. that 'he interviewed the woman who admitted beating the child with a stick which she kept for beating carpets. She said Rachael [the beaten child] had been untruthful and while punishing her for it the child kicked the accused, who gave the offending infant more strokes than she had intended to. The sergeant said that two of the bruises on the girl's leg were four and five inches long. Describing the stick to Mr. Roy Twyneham, counsel for the accused, Sergeant Hodgson, said, it was two feet nine inches long, a little thicker than a pipe-stem, and there was no give in it.

The evidence continued: "Mrs Bergamini has had this whole family, and I know she has had a lot of trouble with them," said witness. "She has been a very satisfactory foster mother for many years and has taken children that no one else would take."

Mr.
Twyneham: What has this woman's general conduct been during the
seventeen years she has been taking children for the State and for your
Society?

"She has always done 'her best. This, particular family has
given a great deal of trouble to me and everyone else. Mr. Twyneham
pleaded the woman's good record as a ground for leniency and stated
that: she had failed to alter this child's propensity for stealing and
lying. In arriving at his decision the magistrate said he was satisfied
that the punishment had been excessive, even though the child's conduct
might have been bad. "These children in foster homes have no one to take
their part and see that they are not ill-treated, and they must have
some protection," he said.[13]

Elizabeth died 25 November 1945 aged 78 at Greymouth, NZ and was buried in Bromley Cemetery, Block 35 Plot 225. Cemetery records state incorrectly that she was born in Christchurch.

His military records are available to read online hereJanuary 1916: William listed as one of the men suspected as a carrier of enteric from the Maheno and dispatched to the isolation camp attached to the Auckland Hospital
Final discharge from service 25 May 1916 due to Enteric conjunctivitis causing disability occurring at Gallipoli

He married Minnie Constance Evangeline HIGGOTT at Mr HIGGOTT’s house, Linwood on 2nd April 1913 and Katie Beryl Evangelina was born 9 August 1913. William was charged under the Destitute Persons Act 1910 by his father in law Frederick HIGGOTT on behalf of Minnie, that he [William] had failed to provide Minnie with adequate means of maintenance and on 12th June 1913 was ordered to pay 20 shillings a week until the order was varied or discharged.He also had to pay £100 surety. [6]It appears that he went to prison in October 1912 for a month due to defaulting on this expected payment.[29]Minnie appears on the historic BDM indexes as remarrying c1923 under her maiden name of HIGGOTT to John Smith DURIE. Marriage registration 1923/3670.
William remarried 1923 to Annie Beaner LEESON[14] at St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch[26]. She died c1951[21]
In 1928 William, noted as a stonemason and Annie lived at 16 Alexandra Street, Christchurch. Annie's middle name is noted as'Beana'.

Gabriel Hercules

Birth registration 1891/7682
Military records state he was born 1 May 1882
Born: Dunedin
Married: Vera Beryl PIRRIE c1919[16] at St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch[26].
She died c1981 and had been born on 16 June 1896[23]
Death: 3 August 1928 and was buried Bromley Cemetery BL 35 PL 225 aged 35 years
Address at time of death: Rannerdale Home, Christchurch
Occupation: Stereotyper
Cause of death: Fatty degeneration of heart; spastic paraplegia; Laminectomy [removal
of vertebra/e]; Haemorrhage and post operative shock.

"Private advice was received in Christchurch yesterday that Driver G.
Bergamini, A.S.C., Military Medal, is still dangerously ill at tho No. 6
Hospital, St. Omer, but is improving. Driver Bergamini was attacked by
cerebrospinal meningitis early in December. He left with th 4th
Reinforcements. His brother, C. Bergamini, was a Main Body man, who
returned and re-enlisted with the 26th Reinforcements, returning to
France.[27]

16 Jan
1918 – Still dangerously ill

28 Jan
1918 – removed from dangerously ill list

31
March 1918 – Cerebro spinal meningitis

Medically
discharged 14 July 1918 due to illness contracted on active service

His
probate information is available here. He is noted as labourer of Christchurch.He married Vera Beryl PIRRIE c1919

The 1928 Avon Electoral Roll notes Gabriel & Vera living with 'Carlo' [unsure if this is Senior or Junior] at 622 Gloucester Street, Linwood.[31]

Carlo 1894-1966Birth
registration 1894/10979 Death registration: 1966/34885Married: Ellen HOUGHTON c1912[18] She died c1914 aged 20[22]They had a son George born c1912[24]He married secondly: Vera Ellen WATSON c1918[17] She died c1938 aged 42[19]They had at least 1 child, a daughter, born October 1918:

Kenneth, an accountant and Vilma were living at 50 Esplanade, Sumner, Christchurch in 1935. Vilma's middle name was given as ' Margaruita '[30]

FURTHER READINGMiscellaneous Paperspast Digital newspaper articles relating to the Bergamini designed war memorials:

"Photograph loaned by ‘Mr Bergamini"Otago Witness 26 December 1900 of Blocks of marble and the quarry at Carrara,
Italy - note the people standing on top of some of the marble as an indication of scale [7]:

The unveiling of the Troopers’
memorial at Waimate, to be unveiled on October 6 [1904]. Designed and executed
by Messrs Bergamini and Reid, Dunedin - here

The
accompanying pictures show the unveiling of the Memorial for Fallen Troopers inthe Boer War, erected at the south end of Palmerston street, Riverton, and the
stone itself. The total amount collected was £116 16 9d, and the Riverton
Patriotic Committee donated £10, making the sum £126 16s 9d. The monument cost
£105. The lettering on the stone reads Wallace Troopers' Memorial Erected by the people of Wallace in memory of
troopers who lost their lives in South African War 1899-1902; "The path of
duty was the way to glory." To the memory of Troopers D. F. M'lntosh
(Fairfax), of F. H. Goode (Riverton), Seth Ky e [sic] (Mossburn), and D. B.
Ferrar (Otautau), and Alexander Scott (Clifden). Mr J. C. Thomson, M.H.R., is
seen addressing the audience.[1] also here.

Wanganui
Chronicle, Volume XXXXVII, Issue 12221,
10 June 1904, Page 5

Dunedin South African War Memorial

The
Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Committee to-day decided to accept the design of
Messrs. Bergamini and Reid for a memorial, to be erected in Victoria Gardens,
the design of Mr. Gabriel Miller being given second place.

This
memorial, to be erected in marble in the Victoria Gardens, Dunedin at a cost of
£1,000 will form a handsome adornment to the city.It was designed by Mr Carlo Bergamini, who
chose as his motto “Amor di patria.”

ABOUT ME

Born & bred in Christchurch, NZ,now resident in Auckland,NZ since 2007 & employed in the heritage sector.

I live with my partner & have 2 adult children from a previous marriage - a married daughter, 30, who gave birth on 25 February 2011 to our first grandchild Joseph. Our 'earthquake boy' Their 2nd son Charlie arrived 21st June 2013 amid snow flurries & horrendous winds! Our storm boy :) & their 3rd son Toby was born 11 Feb 2015. https://flic.kr/p/reYMLK
That night a meteor streaked across the sky!